Oculus acquires Danish eye tracking startup

Oculus has reportedly acquired a company specialised in eye tracking technology – technology that aims to enhance the VR or mobile experience by letting user use their eyes as an input to control the device.

The Eye Tribe, a Danish-based startup formed in 2011 is a specialist in eye tracking technology which enables eye control for consumer devices such as mobile devices and VR headsets. By combining eye control with existing means of control, like touch, tilt, and key press, the company aims to enhance user experiences. And the software relies only on low-cost components, as the Danish company puts it.

And now, Oculus has gotten its hands on the technology. The now Facebook-owned VR technology company confirmed the acquisition to TechCrunch. Though it is still unclear how Oculus will use this new set of technology – but the list of applications includes device control via eye gaze, eye-activated authentication, more immersive gaming experiences and eye pattern analytics.

Eye will most likely become a standard functionality in VR headsets, which will enable higher performance of the headset with foveated rendering – where the image resolution – or amount of detail – varies based on where the eye is fixated.

Comments

Please note the following: Critical comments are allowed and even encouraged. Discussions are welcome. Verbal abuse, insults and racist / homophobic remarks are not. Such comments will be removed.